Arepa Lady

About Arepa Lady

María Piedad Cano sold arepas from a cart on Roosevelt Avenue for decades, working nights and building a following that was close to mythological before her sons helped her open a permanent storefront. The arepa de choclo — sweet corn, griddled, folded around melted cheese and finished with butter — is the item that made the reputation and it remains the correct order. The arepa de queso is the plainer, saltier alternative. Cano was a lawyer in Colombia before emigrating. The story is good and the food is better; this is one of the genuine institutions of immigrant New York.